Taffy Sinclair 011 - Nobody Likes Taffy Sinclair (2 page)

Taffy sighed at the memory. In her wildest dreams she had never imagined that someone like Raven Blaine could possibly be interested in her, much less send her presents. She had wanted to pinch herself each time they were together to make sure it was true. But Raven was in Hollywood, and she was here. She wasn
'
t sure how long it would take to get over her crush on him. But Cory Dillon was her boyfriend here at home, and she cared about him, too.

"
You didn
'
t tell Cory about Raven, did you?
"
she asked quickly.

"
Of course not,
"
said Shawnie, giving Taffy a reassuring smile.
"
And what he doesn
'
t know won
'
t hurt him, right?
"

Taffy returned Shawnie
'
s smile, but her friend
'
s words had given her a sinking feeling.
"
I sure hope not,
"
she murmured.

As s
he walked along the hallway with Shawnie, Taffy could see heads turning her way and kids whispering as she went past. Obviously they were talking about her. The idea made her tingle all over. Probably everybody was dying to hear what it was like to be a movie star, and lots of kids were bound to be jealous.

It
'
s
definitely
good to be back, she thought.

When they reached the stairway, Shawnie wiggled her fingers good-bye and headed upstairs to her homeroom.
"
I
'
ll see you in the cafeteria at noon, okay?
"
she called back over her shoulder.

"
Right,
"
Taffy responded. She rushed toward her own homeroom, giggling to herself at seeing so many kids in their pajamas.

At the same time, she was still on the lookout for Cory. She could hardly wait to see him again. Taffy was checking for Cory among the faces in the crowd coming toward her when she heard voices behind her.

"
Dekeisha Adams just told me that she saw Taffy Sinclair in front of school a few minutes ago,
"
exclaimed Beth Barry. Beth was one of The Fabulous Five, the group of girls who had been Taffy
'
s worst enemies at Mark Twain Elementary and had even had a club against her in fifth grade.

"
Wow. I wonder if she has on a black satin negligee for Pajama Day,
"
Katie Shannon remarked sarcastically.

"
Probably,
"
said Beth.
"
It would be just like her. Taffy must have just gotten home from Hollywood. Can you imagine how much more stuck-up she
'
ll be, now that she
'
s a movie star?
"

Taffy stiffened and listened as the girls went on talking about her, obviously unaware that she was so near.

"
You can say that again,
"
said Jana Morgan.
"
It
'
s a shame, too. She was starting to seem pretty nice just before she left.
"

"
Big deal,
"
sniffed Melanie Edwards.
"
Now she
'
ll probably make up all kinds of stories about how she
'
s been going out with guys like Ralph Macchio or Fred Savage or Raven Blaine. Some kids might actually believe her.
"

"
Oh, come on,
"
said Katie.
"
Nobody would believe
that
."

An instant later the four friends had turned down a corridor and disappeared out of earshot. Taffy ducked out of the crowd and leaned against the wall, her eyes wide with horror at what she had just heard.

But I DID go out with Raven Blaine!
she wanted to shout.
And not only that, he wants to date me if I ever go back to Hollywood!

But you don
'
t dare tell them, warned a little voice in her mind. If you do, Cory might find out and not want to go out with you anymore. Then you
'
d really be out of luck, since Raven is so far away.

That doesn
'
t leave me much choice, Taffy thought dejectedly. She pushed herself away from the wall and rejoined the crowd of students hurrying to class. I
'
ll just have to keep quiet about Raven.

When she reached room 107, Taffy slid into her seat and glanced around to see if anyone was looking at her. Nobody was. Most of them were whispering together or watching the parade of pajama-clad girls enter the room. Most of the girls, including Jana Morgan, Laura McCall, and two of Laura
'
s best friends, Tammy Lucero and Melissa McConnell, wore sweatsuit-type outfits or oversize T
'
s with pictures on the front.

When Clarence Marshall walked in, Randy Kirwan and Shane Arrington winked at each other, and Shane called out,
"
Hey, Clarence. Where are your Bart Simpson jammies?
"
The whole room burst out laughing.

Mona Vaughn and Matt Zeboski came in next, holding hands. Neither of them was wearing pajamas.

Taffy sighed and watched a dozen or so others enter the room, none o
f them the least concerned with
her presence.

Finally the bell rang, and Mr. Neal came in, wearing a long maroon bathrobe over his street clothes. A few giggles broke out as he went straight to his desk.
"
Good morning, class,
"
he said as if there were nothing the least bit unusual going on. Then he looked toward Taffy and smiled.
"
Welcome back, Taffy. I got a note from Mr. Bell that you would be back with us today. How was Hollywood?
"

Little ripples of excitement raced through Taffy. Now everyone was looking at her.
"
It was terrific.
Really
terrific,
"
she assured him.

Suddenly Mona Vaughn jumped to her feet.

"
Oh, Mr. Neal. Let Taffy tell us all about it,
"
she begged.
"
It sounds so exciting.
"

Mr. Neal seemed to be considering the idea, and Taffy glanced sideways at Mona. Mona had follow
ed her around like a little los
t puppy when they were at Mark Twain Elementary. In fact, she had practically worshiped Taffy. Taffy had long ago decided that Mona was her biggest fan.

"
All right, Mona,
"
said Mr. Neal.
"
I think that
'
s a good idea. Taffy, would you like to tell us a little bit about your experiences? I imagine that making a movie was very special.
"

Slowly Taffy rose to her feet. It was almost like being on the set again, seeing all those eyes trained on her, everyone waiting for her to speak. She cleared her throat and began talking.
"
Oh, yes. It was
very
special. It all began when I arrived at the Los Angeles airport, and Dollins, my very own chauffeur, was waiting to take me to my hotel in a long, black limousine.
"
Taffy paused as murmurs spread through the room. She tossed her long, blond hair over her shoulder and went on,
"
Everyone on the set was wonderful to me
. . .
the producer
. . .
the director
. . .
the other actors. Especially my costar, Raven Blaine.
"

The moment Raven
'
s name was out of her mouth, Taffy regretted it. She hadn
'
t meant to mention him to anyone but Shawnie.

Around the room several girls gasped at the mention of the handsome star.

"
Oh, wow!
"
said Mona, melting down into her seat with a huge sigh.
"
Have my ears gone crazy, or did I just hear you say
'
Raven Blaine
'
?
"

"
There
'
s nothing wrong with your ears,
"
Taffy said proudly, thinking that maybe it wouldn
'
t hurt to talk about Raven as long as she was careful.
"
Not only was Raven my costar, but we also became
very
good friends.
"

Out of the corner of her eye Taffy saw Laura McCall stick a finger down her throat and pretend to gag. Her two friends put hands over their mouths to smother giggles.

Furious, Taffy looked straight at Laura and snapped,
"
It
'
s the truth!
"

"
Oh, reeeeally?
"
asked Laura, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"
Really!
"
said Taff
y, her eyes blazing with anger.

"
Okay, ladies,
"
Mr. Neal interjected.
"
That
'
s enough. Besides, that
'
s just about all the time we have today. Thanks, Taffy. Maybe
you can tell us more tomorrow.
"

Taffy flashed Mr. Neal a big smile and sat down, ignoring Laura and her friends.

When the bell rang ending homeroom, Mr. Neal held up his hand for attention.
"
Thanks, all of you in pajamas, for not snoozing in class.
"

Taffy laughed along with everyone else and then scooped up her books and headed into the hall. She had taken only a few steps when she felt a tug on her arm and heard a voice say,
"
Wait up, Taffy. I
'
ve got to have your autograph.
"

It was Mona Vaughn, and she nearly dropped her books as she danced along beside Taffy and dug into her notebook for a sheet of paper at the same time.

"
Here. Sign this,
"
she said around the pencil sticking out of her mouth as she thrust the paper toward Taffy.
"
It
'
ll be worth a fortune someday.
"

Taffy smiled and took t
he paper, glad that at least someone thought she was special. Shaking her head as Mona took the pencil out of her mouth and offered it to her, she said,
"
I have a pen right here.
"

Taffy couldn
'
t help comparing this to the Saturday she had signed autographs in a Los Angeles mall while they were filming a shopping scene. It certainly was different. She sighed, then signed Mona
'
s paper in big, swirling curlicues and handed it back to her with an appreciative smile.

Mona
'
s eyes were glowing.
"
Thanks, Taffy. I
'
ll treasure this forever. Honest. I really will.
"

If only everyone felt that way, Taffy thought wistfully as she watched Mona hurry on down the hall.

Taffy was on her way to the cafeteria for lunch when she finally spotted Cory ahead of her in the crowded hall. He was walking with Craig Meacham, the drummer in The Dreadful Alternatives and the boy Shawnie had been dating while Taffy was in Hollywood. Taffy and Shawnie had promised each other that they would double-date the very first weekend that Taffy was back in town, but what if Cory didn
'
t want to date her anymore?

The thought made her panic, and she walked faster, trying to push her way through the crowd and catch up with him. She darted between two eighth-grade girls in matching quilted bathrobes, murmured a quick apology for bumping them, and called out,
"
Cory! Wait up!
"

Cory glanced back over his shoulder and stopped, causing the wave of kids moving in the same direction to veer around him. His face broke into a smile.
"
Taffy! I
'
ve been looking for you all morning.
"

Taffy couldn
'
t remember when she
'
d felt so happy or so relieved.
"
I
'
ve been looking for you, too,
"
she replied breathlessly.
"
Hey, don
'
t you know that this is Pajama Day? Where are your pajamas?
"

Craig Meacham got a sly grin on his face.
"
He
'
s wearing them.
"

"
Wearing them?
"
said Taffy.
"
He
'
s wearing jeans.
"

Craig put a hand over his mouth, pretending to speak confidentially.
"
He sleeps in his underwear,
"
he said loudly, and then broke up laughing.

Taffy felt her face turn tomato red. What a humiliating thing for Craig to say in public. She wondered if Cory was as embarrassed as she was. She was too afraid to look at him.

"
See you two lovebirds around,
"
called Craig. Still laughing, he disappeared into the crowd.